January 2016

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

Ishikawa available as free agent

Looking for a well-traveled, slick-fielding first baseman who can also play the outfield and hit clutch home runs to send your team to the World Series?
Federal Way graduate Travis Ishikawa is available on the free agent market coming from the Pittsburgh Pirates after hitting the clinching home run for the San Francisco Giants in the 2014 National League Championship Series.

Conger traded to Tampa Bay

Federal Way native Hank Conger was traded this off season to the Tampa Bay Rays from the Houston Astros.
The veteran catcher joins Highline High School graduate Ryan Brett in the Rays' organization.
Brett is a second baseman who played briefly for the Major League team before going down with an injury in May.

Brittany McPhee buries 21

Brittany McPhee from Mount Rainier High School buried 21 points for the Stanford University women's basketball team to help it to a 59-34 win at Arizona on Saturday.

McPhee scores 17 for SPU

Fresh from her inauguration as the first Distrcit 1 City Councilmember Lisa Herbold held a celebration for her supporters at the Chelan Cafe on Jan 4. About 50 people were in attendance.

She said the biggest realization upon confirmation of her victory (delayed by a recount) was "I have to make that adjustment from being in a staff role for 18 years to actually leading." Herbold served as a legislative aide to Nick Licata who swore her in earlier. " That sort of surreal experience of realizing I'm going to have to switch gears. I've already felt myself falling into that old more comfortable role even today... answering constituent mail and I'm like, 'no I'll work with my staff' but some of the old habits are also really good habits to have because I'm really committed to the idea of having really strong constituent relations team and making sure we are getting back to people early and on time."

By Gwen Davis

Lisa Herbold was inaugurated as 1st District Seattle City Council member at City Hall on Monday at 2 p.m. She was surrounded by her family and watched by dozens of smiling supporters.

Other council members sworn in included Bruce Harrell, Kshama Sawant, Rob Johnson, Debora Juarez, Mike O'Brien, Sally Bagshaw, Tim Burgess and Lorena González.

City Hall was packed with over 100 attendees, many of them activists on the council members' campaigns.

Council members gave short speeches after they were inaugurated. They thanked their supporters and restated their top passions and ideas on what they will get done in office.

"Today is historic," said Juarez, representing District 5, whose heritage includes being an ethnic minority. "This is an opportunity to bring all of us closer together. We will be engaged, we will be successful and I'm proud to be part of that."

O'Brien, representing District 6 who has held the position for years, said he's "thrilled" to start a new term "and work with all the many great people who were elected here."

by Lee Robinson (from April 1965)

(ed note:) Lee Robinson was Jerry’s wife and assistant editor at the paper for a number of years. She often wrote Jerry’s column when he was out of town or simply because he fell asleep in the evening and did not finish by deadline)

I was having coffee with the Boss in our favorite booth at the Epicure restaurant in White Center. The conversation had taken a turn for the worse.

He wanted to discuss things like “How come you took two hours for lunch?” and “don’t turn in late copy” and “there weren’t any socks in my drawer this morning” finishing with “did you remember to take the meat out of the freezer?”

That kind of talk is hard on a girl so early in the morning. I was hoping something would happen to distract him. Something did happen. He was called on the telephone.

He hates to answer the telephone during a coffee break. So when the manager Jim Willis came by our table to say good morning and mention that he was wanted on the phone, the Boss complained about having to walk clear back to the kitchen to take the call.

information from WSDOT

Drivers and commuters should plan ahead for construction work that will reduce both directions of State Route 99/Aurora Avenue North by one lane between the Aurora Bridge and just north of Mercer Street. The median lanes in each direction will close for four to five weeks starting Monday evening, Jan. 18.

Contractor crews working for the Washington State Department of Transportation need access to the median lanes to build four large sign foundations for the future SR 99 tunnel. This work was originally scheduled for spring 2015 but changed to January 2016 to lessen the traffic disruption. Winter months typically see lower traffic volumes.

“These signs require sturdy, concrete-encased pedestals along with communication lines, power lines and traffic sensors, which is why the construction work in the median will take at least four weeks,” said David Sowers, deputy administrator of the Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program. “We understand this will inconvenience drivers and commuters, and we are working closely with King County Metro and the Seattle Department of Transportation to minimize traffic impacts as much as possible."

If you would like to obtain some well considered financial advice, contact Sarah Cecil 206-938-6017

Brought to you by Sarah Cecil Financial Advisor with Edwards Jones Investments.

Sponsored post.

West Seattle Baseball is a 100 percent volunteer organization dedicated to teaching kids the game of baseball and giving them opportunities to get out on the diamond. In addition to regular season play, all kids ages 7 and older participate in postseason tournaments.

Those kids wanting to continue playing have opportunities to play baseball well into the summer in programs such as All Star for ages 8-12 years old as well as summer recreation programs including the West Seattle Crush at the Pee Wee fields.

West Seattle Baseball hosts several summer all-star tournaments in West Seattle featuring some of the top teams in Western Washington.

West Seattle Baseball welcomes players of all experience levels. West Seattle Baseball is affiliated with the national PONY Baseball organization. Its goals include teaching the fundamentals of baseball and good sportsmanship while building a sense of community among players and their families.

By Zach Watson

In response to what happened in Paris and California, the House last week passed legislation that changed our Visa Waiver Program. After talking to my fellow Seattleites, I’ve learned that many don’t know exactly what this program is. And why would they? It isn’t something that any of them will ever use.

But I tell you, it is still important.

The Visa Waiver Program uses the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) to eliminate the need of a visa for people from partner countries, thirty-eight of them in all including Western Europe, Japan and Australia. People from those countries go on the ESTA website, pay a small fee and answer security questions. Then sometime in the following day(s) they are granted permission to enter the U.S. for three months without having to apply for a visa at a consulate or embassy, a process that can be lengthy, arduous and expensive.

By Amanda Knox

I love the end of the year, if simply because there are enough holidays crammed together that many relatives and friends who are spread far and wide actually have the time off to travel and visit home. One such friend, a college buddy, now a world traveller, had lunch with me to catch up. The conversation steered towards Christmas. He got a high-tech clothes iron with 400 micro-holes. “It isn’t as fun as when we were kids,” he mused, chuckling.

“Oh, I don’t know,” I said. I got leather biking chaps. (Wee!!!)

But seriously, besides the gifts we give each other, one gift we strive to give ourselves at the end of the year is a moment to catch up. Facebook gives you the option of scrapbooking and sharing the highlights of your year. Media recaps the events that inspired the greatest followings. Individually and collectively we seek to characterize what was considered the present until so recently, the better to understand the context from which we move forward.

So much has happened to me this past year, but the one thing I’m most proud of is not something that affected me directly. And there’s even a little story to it.

To the editor:

There is no “We” anymore. Instead, there are various tribes of people (conservatives, educated, environmentalists, fundamentalists, moderates, professionals, progressives, tradesman, ... with ranges within each tribe) and groups of tribes that make up American society. While there is some common ground, such as clothing, education, housing, language, money, movies, music, popular culture, and sports; there is a wide and yawning gap in the way “we” perceive and act on our worldviews.

Consider such issues as abortion, birth control, climate change, critical thinking, drug use, evolution, gun violence / rights, health care, race, religion, same sex marriage, sexual conduct, the role of women, the role of government, science, tax policy, terrorism, voting rights, or wealth inequality; there is no consensus in America.

Thus, no one including politicians rarely speak for all of “us,” rather they speak for their tribe or group of tribes.